The novel No Longer Human concludes with its protagonist, Yozo Oba, in a state of profound detachment and apathy after a devastating series of personal trials and failures. His journey ends not with a resolution or a dramatic climax, but with a quiet, unsettling resignation.
The Protagonist's Final Chapters
Yozo's life, as chronicled through his notebooks, spirals further into despair and detachment towards the novel's close. Following a critical suicide attempt, he faces a sequence of grim realities that lead him to his final, isolated state:
- Hospital Release and Addiction: After being released from the hospital where he was taken following his suicide attempt, Yozo succumbs to a severe morphine addiction. This dependency further isolates him from society and deepens his physical and psychological deterioration.
- Confinement to an Institution: His addiction and fragile mental state lead to his confinement in a mental institution. This period represents the ultimate societal rejection and his complete loss of autonomy.
- Isolated Retreat: Upon his release from the mental institution, Yozo is aided by his brother in moving to an isolated, remote location. This signifies a final retreat from the world he so profoundly misunderstood and felt alienated from.
A Profound Indifference
The story concludes with Yozo's chillingly simple observation that he feels "neither happy nor unhappy now." This final statement encapsulates the ultimate consequence of his lifelong struggle with human connection and his inability to conform to societal norms. It suggests a complete surrender to his circumstances, a state beyond joy or sorrow, leaving the reader with a sense of profound emptiness and the tragic finality of his "no longer human" existence. This apathy is not peace, but rather the absence of any strong emotion, marking the definitive end of his internal conflict through the cessation of feeling itself.
